On Friday 26th June, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. 70,000 people, most of whom were Jewish, died at Bergen-Belsen of appalling abuses, starvation, disease and mistreatment at the hands of the Nazis.
Bergen-Belsen was liberated by British forces on 15thApril 1945. Some people survived, many of whom went on to rebuild their lives in Britain. The Queen will meet survivors and liberators of the camp during her visit.
Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “This visit being made by Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Bergen-Belsen, a site where thousands of Jewish people died at the hands of the Nazis, is hugely significant. The survivors of Bergen-Belsen will never forget being liberated by British forces after the years of mistreatment they suffered there at the hands of the Nazis. Her Majesty’s visit is particularly poignant – in this anniversary year - 70 years after the liberation of the camp and will mean so much to the survivors and liberators who are still with us.”
Holocaust survivors Rudi Oppenheimer and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and British liberators Bernard Levy and Captain Eric Brown will meet Her Majesty the Queen during her visit.
Holocaust survivor Rudi Oppenheimer said: “I feel very privileged that I have been invited to meet the Queen at Bergen-Belsen. For us survivors of Bergen-Belsen, it is a great honour that she will be paying her respects at a place where our families died. It is also a great thing that the liberators are being honoured; we remain grateful to the British Army for liberating the camp in April 1945.”
For press enquiries, please contact The PR Office on 020 7284 6969.